GNRS marks third year in L.A.

While the northern half of the country slaves away in their garages under dim fluorescents and trouble lights, only now and then casting an eye to the snowfall and salted roads outside, thinking the show season waits months away, those hot rodders in Southern California have just a couple of weeks until their season kicks off with the Grand National Roadster Show. The 57th annual GNRS, billed as the oldest-running indoor hot rod show, will run from January 20-22 at the L.A. County Fairplex in Pomona, marking its third year away from its ancestral home in Oakland. Of course, the main attraction will be the competition for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, which brings with it a $5,000 cash prize, a nine-foot trophy and the biggest bragging rights in hot rodding. The show will also feature appearances from Chip Foose, the Big Schwag (the voice of Monster Garage) as well as Candy Clark and Bo Hopkins from American Graffiti. For more information, visit www.hotrodshows.com

(This post originally appeared in the January 5, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)